Ravens legend Ray Lewis should be a lock for Hall of Fame, right?

When being in a position to be selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, what a player has to do on and off the football field has created a lot of controversy over the last couple weeks with former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens being in the center of it. After a second-straight year of being eligible and not enshrined, Owens has made his displeasure for the decision known.

With plenty of speculation already present, Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts added his thoughts on why Owens has not been selected, despite being in the top three in career receiving yards and touchdown receptions in NFL history.

“I think his numbers are very worthy, but again on the other side of it, I think his actions on and off the field, on the sidelines, in the locker room, and the fact he played for so many teams and was such a great player, the question that comes back to me is if he was such a great player, why did so many of those teams get rid of him?” Fouts said on The Midday 180 in Nashville per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN. “And I think we all know the answers.”

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Owens’ character obviously came into question which left him on the outside looking in instead of being enshrined this summer. This situation brings us to what Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis might go through as he will be eligible to be selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame first time in 2018.

Lewis is arguably a top-five defender in NFL history and is pretty much regarded as the best middle/inside linebacker to ever play the game. Lewis is the only player in NFL history with at least 2,000 tackles, 40 sacks, 30 interceptions, 19 forced fumbles and 20 fumble recoveries. Not to mention, he is a two-time NFL defensive player of the year winner, a Super Bowl MVP and a 13-time Pro Bowler.

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Lewis, with his play on the field and the leadership qualities he brought into the film room and rallying his teammates, should make him a lock as a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame selection. But then there is his off the field troubles that occurred in January of 2000, when two men by the names of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar were stabbed to death outside of a nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, which has followed Lewis ever since. The deaths of Baker and Lollar would lead to two men who were partying with Lewis that night in Reginald Oakley and Joesph Sweeting being indicted, charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Both Oakley and Sweeting would eventually have charges dropped as the double murder case would be ruled in self-defense. Lewis would be found guilty of obstruction of justice for lying to the police about the details that went on that night and nothing further.

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Even though Lewis learned from his mistakes in terms of getting involved with the wrong crowd and turned into a great ambassador for the NFL, that night in Atlanta still follows him. Lewis is no doubt reminded of that night as he can’t even get a tweet out or post something on Facebook without someone making ignorant claims that he killed somebody.

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Will that night in 2000 haunt Lewis not only personally, but for his Pro Football Hall of Fame chances? Will the selection committee look deep into his past the way they have done for Owens and penalize Lewis the same way? It seems unlikely, but only those on the committee know how they’ll vote.